Les orangers

Deep shade under orange trees, a man reading with his back to us, a young woman by a tub, and beyond them a garden blazing with sun. Caillebotte painted this summer afternoon outdoors at his family's estate in 1878.

The story behind the painting

Gustave Caillebotte painted Les Orangers, The Orange Trees, en plein air at his family's country estate in Yerres in 1878. Impressionists were known for working outdoors, but a canvas this large, about 155 by 117 cm, was rarely painted that way, because it was hard to finish quickly before the light changed. In March of that year Caillebotte had acquired Claude Monet's Le Déjeuner, one such large outdoor picture, and it probably influenced this work. Caillebotte was among the most passionate gardeners of the movement, and the garden he painted was one he knew well.

What to look for

In the shade of the orange trees, Caillebotte's brother Martial sits reading with his back to us, dressed the same way as Gustave himself in Renoir's Oarsmen at Chatou. Their cousin Zoé Caillebotte stands by one of the Versailles tubs that hold the trees, a fashionable planter at the time. In the foreground are light, painted steel garden chairs that appear in other Yerres pictures and in a photograph of the estate. Behind them, bright sun lights a round flower bed with a curving gravel path, and at its edge a dog seems to be asleep.

Meaning and intent

The poses of Martial and Zoé suggest two people each enjoying the afternoon quietly, alone with their thoughts. Caillebotte sets a sharp contrast between the shady foreground, painted in muted greens and purples, and the brilliant greens, reds and whites of the lawn and flower beds. That clean line between sun and shadow departs from the dappled light found in similar garden scenes by Renoir and Monet. The critic and historian Kirk Varnedoe suggested that this contrast helps convey the heat of the afternoon. You can almost feel the coolness of the shade.

Legacy

Wikipedia notes that, unlike many of his colleagues who liked wild, natural settings, Caillebotte preferred manicured, formal gardens and carefully pruned his fruit trees for compact growth. Critics have linked this taste to his interest in perspective, so visible in his city scenes. The painting was acquired by Audrey Jones Beck and was part of a collection on long-term loan to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, before it was donated to the museum in 1999. It now hangs in the museum building named after her, a quiet family afternoon from Yerres far from home.

Lo sapevi?

Painted outdoors at Yerres in 1878.
Shows Caillebotte's brother Martial and cousin Zoé.
Possibly influenced by Monet's Le Déjeuner, which Caillebotte acquired that year.
Donated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in 1999.

Wikipedia · Wikidata